Press Releases

Speaking on the World Stage: Birmingham City Council President Heads to Switzerland in Hopes of Bringing the World Games to Birmingham

PRESS RELEASE Monday, January 19, 2015

Contact: Brittany Sharp

Phone: 205-721-5369

brittany.sharp@birminghamal.gov

BIRMINGHAM, AL – As the City of Birmingham makes it’s final pitch for the 2021 World Games Birmingham City Council President Johnathan Austin will head to Switzerland with one goal in mind, and that’s to win big. Birmingham is among three other cities including Lima, Peru, and Ufa, Russia that are looking to land the Olympic-style events for sports. The World Games haven’t been in the U.S. since 1981, the first time the event was held, and now city leaders are coming together to tout the world-class facilities that exist within Birmingham.

“After seeing the facilities in host cities and seeing the games, we said, `Hey, we have everything in Birmingham right now to host the World Games,'” said Scott Myers, executive director of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.” Birmingham has a history of training a host of outstanding athletes and this opportunity will allow us to really show the world, what a first-class city we have.”

Birmingham holds endorsements from the U.S. Olympic Committee and from the national federations of all the sports competitions that will take place at the World Games. If Birmingham secures the World Games, it would be one of the biggest economic drivers that the city has ever had which is why President Austin and others traveling to Switzerland are anticipating putting their best foot forward in hopes of bringing home the prize.

“We’ve believed for years that Birmingham has what it takes to host an event of this size, and it’s nice to see that others around the world are starting to see that as well,” President Austin said. “The fact that we have the chance to bring over 100 participating countries together in our city is very exciting, and we’re looking forward to capitalizing on this opportunity.”

The 2021 host will be selected Thursday, January 22nd and with the enthusiasm from city leaders who are involved in the bid selection, the chances for Birmingham to land the games are looking very good.